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Iowa school districts must consider medically sensitive students’ requests to require mask wearing of those around them, notwithstanding a state law that banned school mask mandates, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
The decision by Judge Robert Pratt comes in a suit filed by several families challenging Iowa’s pandemic-era law, which Gov. Kim Reynolds signed in May 2021, banning school districts and local governments from mandating mask wearing. The plaintiffs are parents of children with chronic health conditions or disabilities rendering them particularly at risk for complications from the coronavirus. They sued, arguing that the state was violating federal disability rights law by denying reasonable accommodations for their children.
The decision, released when COVID-19 cases have been far fewer than they had been for years, rekindles the bitter battles over mask requirements, which colored recent years. The debates over mask requirement led to contentious school board meetings, slid into local elections and resulted in the state law banning mask mandates.
